Will We Give The Terrorists What They Expect?

[Annie]

I wouldn't bet against it:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051011/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_al_qaida

Al-Qaida No. 2: Get Set to Fill Iraq Void

By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 9 minutes ago

In a letter to his top deputy in Iraq, al-Qaida's No. 2 leader said the United States "ran and left their agents" in Vietnam and the jihadists must have a plan ready to fill the void if the Americans suddenly leave Iraq.

"Things may develop faster than we imagine," Ayman al-Zawahri wrote in a letter to his top deputy in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam — and how they ran and left their agents — is noteworthy. ... We must be ready starting now."

Senior U.S. military commanders have said that Iraqi security forces are improving significantly and some U.S. forces could return home early next year. Yet skeptics have raised concerns about whether such statements simply let the insurgency know how long they must wait for the U.S. to leave.

In a letter taking up 13 typed pages in its English translation, al-Zawahri also recommended a four-stage expansion of the war that would take the fighting to neighboring Muslim countries.

"It has always been my belief that the victory of Islam will never take place until a Muslim state is established ... in the heart of the Islamic world," al-Zawahri wrote.

The letter laid out his long-term plan: expel the Americans from Iraq, establish an Islamic authority and take the war to Iraq's secular neighbors, including Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

The final stage, al-Zawahri wrote, would be a clash with Israel, which he said was established to challenge "any new Islamic entity."

The letter is dated July 9, and was acquired during U.S. operations in Iraq. It was written in Arabic and translated by the U.S. government. The Pentagon briefed reporters last week on portions of the document, but the full text was not available until Tuesday.

In a statement, the National Intelligence Director's office said the letter "has not been edited in any way" and its contents were released only after it was clear no military or intelligence operations would be compromised.

House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., said his committee is reviewing the letter, but he cautioned "against reading too much into a single source of intelligence."

In his letter, al-Zawahri, a Sunni, devoted significant attention to al-Zarqawi's attempts to start a civil war with the rival Muslim Shiite sect, the majority that now dominates the new Iraqi government. Ultimately, al-Zawahri concluded that violence, particularly against Shiite mosques, only raises questions among Muslims.

"This matter won't be acceptable to the Muslim populace however much you have tried to explain it, and aversion to this will continue," he wrote.

Al-Zawahri was also critical of the Taliban, which was toppled in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, because, he said, they did not have the representation of the Afghan people. He said students of the Taliban retreated to their tribes.

"Even the devout ones took the stance of spectator," al-Zawahri wrote.

Contrasting that, he saw fearlessness in battles waged in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah, Ramadi and Al Qaim.

At times, the letter got personal. Al-Zawahri said he tasted the bitterness of America's brutality, noting that his "favorite wife's chest was crushed by a concrete ceiling" during an apparent U.S. attack. His daughter died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

To this day, he wrote, he did not know the location of their graves.

The letter then switches to the court of public opinion.

"More than half of this battle is taking place in the battlefield of the media," he wrote. "We are in a media battle in a race for the hearts and minds of our umma," or community of Muslims, he wrote.

The line is an apparent reference to a phrase — "hearts and minds" — often used by President Bush.

 

[Gunny]

I wouldn't bet against it:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051011/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_al_qaida

I'd say it all depends on whether the government listens to the whines from the left rather than do what is right, as they did in Vietnam.

Walter Cronkite taught the American left that leaving our allies to the mercy of their and our enemies is "an honorable peace." In truth it's nothing but a lack of stones and/or cowardice.

 

[Annie]

I'd say it all depends on whether the government listens to the whines from the left rather than do what is right, as they did in Vietnam.

Walter Cronkite taught the American left that leaving our allies to the mercy of their and our enemies is "an honorable peace." In truth it's nothing but a lack of stones and/or cowardice.

And Walter's model fan is UBL.

 

[Gunny]

And Walter's model fan is UBL.

Walter Cronkite's statement, IMO, is a PERFECT example of the media's disregard for the impact of their words on the average American. Not so much now, but in 1969, there were 3 network channels, and that was it. The people trusted that what they were being told was the truth.

A lot of today's problem with the media is the established MSM being challenged by the advent of so much info being available from sources other than the tube. They don't have the control over the American mind they used to.

Yet we STILL have nimrods who believe if we turn our backs on radical Islam and just "leave them alone" we have nothing to fear. Beats the Hell out of me ...... :scratch:

 

[Annie]

Walter Cronkite's statement, IMO, is a PERFECT example of the media's disregard for the impact of their words on the average American. Not so much now, but in 1969, there were 3 network channels, and that was it. The people trusted that what they were being told was the truth.

A lot of today's problem with the media is the established MSM being challenged by the advent of so much info being available from sources other than the tube. They don't have the control over the American mind they used to.

Yet we STILL have nimrods who believe if we turn our backs on radical Islam and just "leave them alone" we have nothing to fear. Beats the Hell out of me ...... :scratch:

I agree. I guess that is part of the reason I am so obsessed with checking as many sources as possible. I really am glad I took speed reading. Wish I could remember how I was taught.

 

[Gunny]

I agree. I guess that is part of the reason I am so obsessed with checking as many sources as possible. I really am glad I took speed reading. Wish I could remember how I was taught.

 

[USMCDevilDog]

I'm pretty sure this is eventually going to spread to other Muslim countries wether the U.S. is there or not. Terrorists, Islamic people, Muslims, whoever, they've all seen it coming.

I know for a fact, if it hasn't happened already, Lebanon is on the brink of civil war. Hezbollah are fucking alot of shit up over there.